This Wednesday 11 to Friday 13 November the Tourism on the Silk Road 2020 forum takes place, forming part of the 26th Tashkent International Tourism Fair and marking the first time Uzbekistan has hosted the forum online.
The event, which has been running since 1995, brings together twenty five international experts in tourism from all over the world, including France, Germany, Kazakhstan, India, Russia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan. These experts share their experience and insights into how the tourism industry can recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, how to ensure safe travel for tourists, as well as better access for international markets.
Tashkent International Tourism Fair “Tourism on the Silk Road 2020″🇺🇿
— Uzbekistan.travel (@uzb_travel) November 6, 2020
🚩Online Forum
November 11-13, 2020,
It will be the first time that Uzbekistan has hosted the forum online.
More about:☑️ https://t.co/RxlUnmkDbV
You can register now😍
It will start 10:30 AM Tashkent time🇺🇿 pic.twitter.com/2YBuozDCD3
The three day online event was opened by Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for tourism development, Aziz Abdukhakimov, as well as UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Polikashvili.
The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed guests and thanked UNWTO for their continued support of the Tashkent International Tourism Fair. He acknowledged the immense impact that Covid-19 has had on the tourism sector and praised the Uzbekistan governments’ response to this. He spoke of the steps the country has taken to restart tourism, namely the Uzbekistan Safe Travel Guaranteed initiative, and also underlined Uzbekistan’s social tourism projects, such as declaring November as henceforth the ‘month of tourism for the elderly’, and the success of the Samarkand Half Marathon.
In his welcome speech, UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Polikashvili described Uzbekistan as an “active and valued member of UNWTO”, praising their achievements over the last three years to become a world known destination, and congratulating the government for their hard work and for using tourism to “drive sustainable and regional tourism development”.
Over the three days, guests of the Tourism on the Silk Road 2020 virtual forum will be able to listen to and watch the twenty five international experts discussing a broad range of topics related to the tourism sector. As explained by the Deputy Prime Minister, discussions will be mostly focused on the ‘maintenance and preservation of the tourism sector during the pandemic’. The conference schedule is as follows:
Day 1
- Session 1: How to make practical improvements to the tourism industry after COVID-19
- Session 2: The role of youth and millennial tourists in shaping the tourism industry
- Session 3 – Digital Tourism Trend and Singapore Experience
Day 2
- The First Tourism forum between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Belarus: Mikhail Portnoy, Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus and Ulugbek Azamov, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Tourism Development
- Session 1: Improving access to Western European tourism markets
- Session 2 – Gastronomic tourism as a tool for rural development
Day 3
- Session 1 – Investment as the basis for tourism recovery after COVID-19
The Deputy Prime Minister is positive that participants can continue to connect and share their ideas and future plans online, and that these will be put into action, as they do when Uzbekistan hosts the event in person each year. He said he is confident that next year Uzbekistan will be able to once again welcome guests in person, and will of course show the ‘true Uzbek hospitality’.
If you wish to follow the debate, click here.
